Too Late?
by Zerath
Summary: Lan x Mayl, Megaman x Roll. After getting in trouble for being late to class, again, Mayl gets into trouble with him. Mad at Lan for pulling her in, she starts ignoring his existance. Has Lan lost the one he loves? I suck a summaries, please read.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Well, I have completely lost any inspiration I once had to continue my Teen Titans fics. Such a shame...Though I seemed to have gained an idea for Megaman, weird...Must be MMBN 5. Anyway, well, here.

Disclaimer: No own Megaman.

Oh, and the ages are:

Lan/Dex/Chaud: 16

Mayl: 15

Yai: 12

Other will be added when I see the need to add them.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**ACDC Town: Lan's House**

"...an!...ake up!"

Groaning and turning away from the consistent, annoying beeping on his table, Netbattler Lan tried to get back to sleep. If one watched him in the mornings, they would know this happened every day, not including weekends. One would also hear a sigh, seemingly come from a small hand-held device on the desk nearby.

"Sorry Lan...", Megaman muttered as he turned the volume of the PET to max, "LAN WAKE UP!"

With a scream the boy jumped out of bed, landing on the floor with a groan. Pushing himself up, he glared at the PET, where Megaman was laughing after having turned the volume back down to normal.

"What...was...that...for..."

Megaman.EXE took a second to calm down before answering. Sighing, he answered his brother's question.

"You're going to be late for school...again. Remember what Ms. Mari said the other day?"

Apparently Lan did, and in a blur he was dashing around, getting dressed, brushing his teeth, looking for his, surprisingly completed, homework. Grabbing his PET from the desk and sliding it into it's case on his belt, he dashed downstairs. Grabbing a piece of toast, he said good morning to his mom as he ran out the door, failing to notice his dad was home. Once he was outside, he pushed a button on his shoes witch made roller-skates pop out and made a mad dash for school.

* * *

**ACDC Town: School: Class 9C**

Ms. Mari sighed as the bell rang, signaling that class was to begin. One would think that after five years Lan would start getting here on time. Walking over to her desk, she looked over the class. Lan would be the only absentee. Her gaze lingered one Mayl, as if silently interrogating her on Lan's whereabouts. The red-head remained silent, and Ms. Mari inwardly sighed as she looked back out at the class. Clearing her throat, she grabbed a small chip off of her desk and slipped it into a slot on the chalkboard. The lessons started writing itself, and the class groaned at the long list they had to write. That meant no Netbattling practice, which meant a long, boring, day.

"Class, jack-n your Navis to copy the notes, and pull out your Science Books. Today we will be going over the so--"

She was suddenly cut off as a blur shot into the class and settled down in a seat next to Mayl. The gust of wind that followed scattered loose papers all around the. Which were few, the class had mostly gotten used to Lan's hurricane entrances after two years of them. Ms. Mari glared at the boy, this was the last straw.

"Lan Hikari...What have I told you about being late? I didn't want to do this but I'm issu--"

She stopped when she looked at what the entire class was staring at. Her favorite flower vase that a very dear, now deceased, friend had given her. It was teetering on the edge of the desk, Lan's entrance having knocked it off balance. Everyone in the room stopped breathing, afraid that the slightest change would make it fall. It tilted back...

Then forward...

Then back...

Then forward...

When it seemed to settle, Lan let out a sigh. That would have...

The vase fell to the floor and shattered. The class suddenly became deathly silent. A pin could drop have the world away and they would have heard it. Ms. Mari's face became blood red with anger, and the entire front from, including Lan and Mayl, slid back into their seats.

"LAN HIKARI! This is it! Three weeks detention, including weekends, and loss of Netbattling privileges in class. This should teach you to be...on...time."

"But Ms. Mari, it wasn't his fault that--"

"Talking back Ms. Sakuri? Well, you can stay behind with Lan."

"But--"

"Silence! Now have your Navi's download the notes and the extra homework projects. Class, pull out your Science Books. Now!"

There was a mass scramble to do as she told. Ms. Mari was normally a very patient teacher, but when she was angry it wasn't pretty, not at all. Mayl shot Lan a death glare, mad that she had to stay after with him. If he hadn't been late, she wouldn't have felt the need to stick up for him, and she wouldn't have lost her perfect record. Lan gulped and whimpered, two females were mad at him.

_Megaman, a little help here?_

_Sorry, your on your own here. This is our fault._

Lan groaned, not loud enough to be heard, and starting to read. This was going to be a loooong day.

* * *

When the lunch bell rang, it was a stampede to escape Ms. Mari's fury. The last one to leave, surprising Ms. Mari, was Lan. He walked out, he dropped down, acting as if he had found out his dog had died. He didn't have a dog, but oh well. The truth was that the glare he had gotten from Mayl had did it. For some reason he still had to figure out ti hurt him deep, as if he had switched laces with Megaman in a duel with Protoman. Slowly skating his way to the cafeteria, he absentmindedly sat down in his usual spot across from Mayl, by Dex. 

It didn't take him too long to figure out he was the subject of a group glare. Looking u and seeing the death glare from Mayl, one from Yai, and one from Dex, he dropped his head and mumbled something they couldn't hear and left. They didn't pay heed to his abnormal attitude, though one Navi did. Roll, who was in her PET that was hanging around Mayl's neck, had seen it all. She instantly knew something was up. The only other times Lan had acted like this was when Megaman had been deleted, when Megaman had been kidnapped and turned into Dark Mega, and when he had failed to stop some thugs from hurting his friends. In fact, he didn't drop so low into this depression until he had seen how bad they beat up Mayl. Something started forming in her mind, and she only wished she could talk to Megaman.

Lan had made his way to a empty table, away from the other kids. Setting down his lunch tray, he picked up a plastic fork, dropped his head so it was being held up in an angle by his hand, nd started to poke at his food. Megaman knew something was wrong, the bond he shared with Lan confirmed that much. Even without it he would have noticed the drastic change in Lan's attitude. He wished that Lan hadn't completely shut him out, Lan needed someone to snap him out of this. Though the Navi was picking up some rather strong emotions from hid brother...Guilt, regret, sorrow, betrayal...Betrayal? Where was that coming from? He really needed to talk to Lan.

Ms. Mari watched the small display. Lan walking to his table, his friends glaring at him, and Lan walking away almost worse off than when he left the classroom. She had been Lan's teacher long enough to know this was a drastic personality shift. Many people did wonder why she seemed to follow Lan and his friends through school, many just passing it off as coincidence. She really did it because she was one of the few people that knew of Hub. She followed followed Lan just to spare any other teachers from the shock of that. And, she was proud of being the teacher of the kid that saved the world several time. WWW, Gospel, the asteroid, Nebula...She just wanted to keep it up. But right know she knew that something was very wrong, but what? It had to do with his friends, specifically Mayl. Hmmm...

* * *

The bell rang again, signaling to head back to class. Like before, Lan was the last to leave. He hadn't eaten at all, throwing away a full tray of food. This had drawn the attention of the cooks, the teachers in the room, and any kids that had seen it. Lan usually ate as much as he could stuff into his mouth. He ignored the questioning looks, just staring at the ground and stuffing his hands in his pockets. He sat back down in his desk in the class, plugged Megaman in to finish his work, and instantly went back to the book. The drew the attention of everyone in the class. By now they all knew something was up. Mayl couldn't help but forget her anger for a second as she looked at Lan from the corner of her eye. She knew Lan wasn't as dense as everyone thought he was, and she had a feeling that he was feeling truly guilty at what happened. Though her wondering on his condition were pushed aside as her anger came back. It serves him right, he shouldn't have been late. 

Ms. Mari walked into the classroom, and to everyone's pleasure was calmer than before lunch.

"Okay class, where we left off. If your Navis re done with the notes, they have free time. Now, where were we?..."

* * *

Megaman sighed as sat down at the edge of the Chalkboard Comp. He had finished with the notes, installed the homework programs, and now tried to figure out Lan. He failed to notice a certain pink Navi that walked over and sat down by him. So when Roll spoke, he jumped. 

"Mega?"

"Ahh! Roll? W-where did you come from?"

"Haha, over there."

Megaman blushed at his stupidity, then sighed. He was about to say something when Roll spoke up again.

"Mega, did you notice anything...odd about Lan? I saw him from my PET and something seemed wrong with him."

"Yeah...But I don't know what. He's just blocking me out. I can't..."

He was cur off as the dismissal bell rang. Already? The day went alot faster than he thought. He started to get up, then remembered that Lan had to stay after. He might as well wait to be logged out. Roll apparently had the same idea. Though she had another motive. It was her secret, but she had a crush on the blue Navi. Just like the one Mayl had on Lan. But they had kept their feelings hidden, the closest they had come to reveal them was when Lan and Megaman had started drifting away from their friends on their adventures, and they had to remind them people were worried about them.

Megaman also had a secret. He had a crush on the pink Navi next to him as well. He found Roll beautiful, and when she had been kidnapped by Nebula that one time he realized his feelings. When he had seen her trapped in the force field when they were turning him into Dark Mega, he wouldn't have been as resistant. He had been fighting to get away and free Roll and th others. Well, no need to say he failed that. Then thinking, he realized he had the same feelings for Roll that Lan had for... Then everything seemed clearer. That was why Lan was feeling so down. Turning to Roll, he sighed.

"I think I just figured something out..."

* * *

So how was it? Bad? Good? I think bad. I haven't been able to think clearly, and I think I may have made this too long, or too much of something. Please no flames, though constructive criticism would be appreciated. Then again, more than two reviews would be nice. That was all I ever got for Fallen...Wel;, drop a review. And, this will be a little AU. I'm taking some things from the games I like, and some things from the show I like. So...yeah. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Classes had ended, and the day should have been over, but for Lan and Mayl weren't done yet. Still angry at the world famous NetBattler for breaking her vase, Ms. Mari forced him to clean every single inch of the classroom, but was being rather forgiving to Mayl for some particular reason by just having her feed all the animals. Sitting back at her desk, the angered teacher began grading papers, occasionally looking over her work to check on Lan She couldn't understand his sudden mood swing, it was unlike Hub's brother to mope about detention. Something was up, she just couldn't put her finger on it at the moment. Fuming again as she thought about her broken vase, Ms. Mari went back to her work.

The entire time, Lan remained extremely quiet, not looking up from his work of cleaning off all the gum on Dex's desk (how he ate so much gum, even Lan couldn't figure that out). His movements were slow and clumsy, it was almost as if the brown haired youth wasn't even trying hard. His mind was consumed by the picture of Mayl's angry face, which for some reason, he couldn't shake off It hurt the Netbattler, like the time he thought he lost Megaman forever. But he couldn't understand why, it wasn't as if him and Mayl were that close to each other, they were not twins, they weren't even related. If that was so, however, why was he having such a hard time copping with his present situation?

Without even thinking about it, Lan's eyes turned their gaze towards Mayl, whom surprisingly was looking back at him with a semi-worried look on her face. When she saw him turn, however, the pianist quickly turned away, giving her friend another angry glare before she did. Every time he looked at her, she just seemed to get angry. The funny thing was, why? Lan had made a mistake, and she had dragged herself into it by defending him. Still, Mayl felt he deserved what he was getting, the NetBattler would not be forgiven so easily for getting her into trouble.

And, at the same time, she worried for him. The red haired girl could see it in him, something was bothering Lan greatly. And whatever it was, it had been bothering him all day. Even if she was angry, Mayl's heart felt like it tore in two after watching her closest friend leave their lunch table Sure he deserved it, in her mind, but that still didn't make it feel right. She shook her head and turned back to the drawing she had on her desk. She had finished her assignments, and had taken up drawing to pass the time until she could go home.

* * *

Roll listened to Megaman's theory, surprised by what she heard. If the blue Navi was correct, then they had a problem. Roll knew Mayl better than everyone, she knew that the teen wouldn't forgive Lan so easily. She might get concerned over Lan's attitude change, but she won't forgive him. This was going to be a problem, she didn't' want to see their friendship ruined. That could cause her to never see Megaman again. 

Wait, stop Roll. You're acting selfish, you have to help Megaman think of a way to fix this.

She didn't know that Megaman was having the exact same thoughts.

"Mega, what can we do?"

"I don't know Roll. I'm used to fighting WWW, or Nebula. I'm...I'm kinda at a loss on this."

After a few moments of contemplating and confusion, the blue Navi sighed, coming up with the obvious answer. Turning to face Roll, Megaman hid the blush on his face from looking at Roll. He couldn't help but think how cute she was when she was deep in thought..

"I'll try and talk to Lan when we get home, he'll hopefully talk to me."

Roll looked up and nodded, catching a very brief glance at his blush. Smirking, she acted as if she saw nothing.

"Or at the very least he might listen."

The two Navis sighed, and looked away. They both wanted to say something else, and both were afraid the other didn't feel the same way. But any chance they had was lost when Ms. Mari's voice rang out. An audio system allowed Navis to hear what was said in the classroom.

* * *

"Okay Lan, Mayl. Detention is over. I'll be seeing you two again tomorrow. And don't...be...late Lan." 

Finally, Lan and Mayl were allowed to leave, their first day of detention over finally. Jacking out their Navi's, they gathered their stuff and left. Ms. Mari watched the two leave, paying particular attention to the NetBattler's sloppy movements. It was still confusing to the teacher. She had been wrong about earlier, even when Megaman was thought to be deleted Lan wasn't this bad. All she knew was that it had to do with Mayl, Lan had been through worse than detention so it couldn't be that. Watching as the two students left, Lan waiting a minute after Mayl left before leaving, she shook her. Head. She knew she had to get to the bottom of this.

Lan and Mayl walked home slowly, one in a saddened state while the other having a mix of anger and concern. The NetBattler stayed behind his friend, looking down at the ground, and almost tripping over a pair of rocks, even if he saw them. After a while, the brown haired kid's eyes did manage to leave the sidewalk and look towards Mayl. Again, her eyesight was caught on him, though this time Lan was the first to look away. The same anger that slipped into the red haired girl's mind quickly came back, turning to face Lan with her hands on her hips and her glaring blue eyes seemingly piercing her friend.

"What are you looking at?" She asked irritably, soon regretting her own words as she noticed him shudder and look away.

"I-it's nothing." Lan sheepishly replied, walking as fast as he could pass Mayl and disappearing into his own home. This left a confused and concerned pianist outside her best friend's home, shocked by his reaction. This brought her to looking down at the sidewalk as Lan did before, a depressing look across her face as she faintly said good-bye and made her way home as well. She said hello to the maid (her parents were away again, because they were home so very little they had hired a maid to look after Mayl) she walked up to her room and jacked Roll into her computer. The pink Navi appeared on the screen, and was about to ask something when Mayl cut her off.

"I know what you want to talk about and I don't. Just upload my homework, I'd better get it finished with."

Roll sighed and did as Mayl asked. The homework replaced Roll on the screen, and Roll started walking to the link to Lan's computer. Mayl didn't need her help with the homework, and she wanted to talk to Megaman. She wanted to know how his and Lan's talk had gone.

* * *

When Lan walked in his mother instantly noticed his depressed attitude. That wasn't like him. And he didn't say hi or anything, he just went straight to his room. She stared after him, to surprised to do anything. Yuichiro walked in from the back room right after Lan left to his room, and looked quizzically at his wife. 

"What wrong?"

Lan dumped his backpack onto the floor by his bed and walked over to his computer. Looking out the window into Mayl's room, he saw her at work on her homework. Then she glanced up, saw him, glared, and pressed a button to make her windows blacken. The need for binds was long since over, windows could now darken themselves to block out light, or in this case people. Lan sighed, and jacked Megaman into his computer. He didn't feel like surfing the Net, or Netbattling, so for once he was going to do his homework. A first for sure.

"Megaman, can you upload my homework files?"

"Lan, are you alright? You haven't been acting normal since Ms. Mari gave you detention."

"I'm fine Megaman," an irritated tone was clear in his voice, "Just upload my homework, now."

Megaman sighed and did as he was told. He wasn't going to get through to Lan at all. He uploaded the homework, and tried one last time.

"But Lan--"

"I'm fine! Just...go do something on the Net. Leave me alone!"

Megaman was taken aback by Lan's outburst. Sighing in defeat, he loaded the homework program. Without a word the Navi left into the Ne, not noticing the pink Navi that had seen it all from her spot by the link to Mayl's web-page. Roll stepped back onto it, teleporting back to her home. There was definitely something wrong with Lan, she was positive of it now.

* * *

The next morning... 

Megaman woke up and looked at the clock.

7:00

Just enough time to get Lan up so he'll be late for school. Turning on the speakers, he was about to yell for Lan to wake up when he noticed something. The PET was moving. Looking up he saw Lan, then looked back at the clock.

7:01

This was scary. Lan was up early. Lan walked into his classroom, and seeing Ms. Mari at her desk looking over some papers walked up to her. It took her a second to notice the NetBattler, but when she did her scream was heard throughout ACDC Town. Lan didn't seem to notice. He took out several chips and laid them down on his teacher's desk.

"Here are my homework assignments Ms. Mari."

Ms. Mari just watched, stunned, as Lan walked over to his desk, sat down, jacked in Megaman, and waited for class to begin. She looked at her clock, wondering if she was hallucinating.

7:04

She stared at the clock, back at Lan, then at the clock. Telling herself she was still asleep, she left for some coffee. When she returned and still saw Lan, the only one in the class, and his homework projects, she almost fainted. She downed the coffee and sat down, still in shock. Picking up his homework chips, all of the assignments were there too, she slid them into her PET for her Navi to grade. Then looking back up at Lan she shook her head, trying to recover.

"Well...done Lan. It's good to finally see you on time, er, early?"

The words sounded weird. She had never thought at anytime in her life that she would say "Lan", "on time", and "early" in the same sentence as a compliment. Lan didn't seem to acknowledge it , he just clasped his hands together and waited for the bell to ring. When it did, and the rest of the kids started to file in, each one froze in the doorway, as shocked as Ms. Mari was. Mayl snapped out of it the, figuring it was about time Lan pulled his act together. The other kids soon sat down as well, Yai and Dex looked at each other before they sat down. Even Dex knew something was up. They sat down, ans class started.

* * *

Lunch was the same as the day before. Only Lan walked straight past his normal spot by Dex to the empty table from the day before. Again, Ms. Mari watched him, trying to figure out what was wrong. This time, however, Lan also attracted the looks of a few students, Dex and Yai included. When lunch ended, he again drew the stares of the staff, throwing away another full tray of food. Again he was the last one to leave the cafeteria, though this time because eh had to ask Ms. Mari something. Walking up to her as she prepared to leave, he waited for her to notice him. It took a second, but she did. 

"Yes, Lan?"

"Um, Ms. Mari, can...Can you let Mayl off of detention?"

Ms. Mari thought about it, a few more pieces of her mystery clicking together. But she shook her head, no chance.

"No."

"But...but why? She didn't do anything."

"My answer is no."

"But--"

"Lan Hikari, are you back-mouthing me? Do you want another week of detention?"

"No ma'am..."

"Lan, is nice to see you care for your friend, and showing up early for once...But..."

She noticed Lan had zoned out and and walked away. Normally she would have yelled at him, but in light of his recent attitude, she said nothing. She didn't want to risk worsening his condition. Making her Navi make a note to remind her to call Lan's parents, she followed him back to class, closing the door behind her as the bell rang.

* * *

That detention was like the day before's, Lan cleaned the room, Mayl took care of the animals. They finished their assignments, Mayl turning back to her drawing and Lan, well, sitting like he had when the day began. Mayl, ignored him, Ms. Mari continued trying to figure out what was going on while grading projects, and Roll and Megaman were again talking in the Chalkboard Computer. 

"Mega...I heard what happened with your talk last night..."

Megaman looked up at Roll. How did she know what happened last night? Roll saw the look of bafflement of the Navi's face, laughing. Megaman was cute when he looked like that.

"I wanted to talk to you, so I used the link from my home page to yours. I heard it all."

"Roll, I don't know what wrong with him. I know it has to do with Mayl, he was muttering her name last night, asking her to not be mad at him."

A few minutes later, Ms. Mari announced that detention was over. The two Navis walked over to the panels to jack out, and as Megaman was about to step on his, Roll grabbed his arm. Megaman looked back at her, a confused look on his face. What was Roll doing?

"Roll, what are--"

"Megaman, I...I just want you to know that if you ever need help, you're free to come by Mayl's HP. Okay?"

Megaman thought about it, then smiled and nodded. This brought out a smile from Roll, who watched him jack out before she did herself. She had been so close to admitting how she felt, so close! She took s breath, even though Navis didn't need air, to calm down as she appeared in her PET. There was always tomorrow. She smiled to herself, yes, there was always tomorrow.

* * *

The next few days repeated over the same exact way. Lan was early, turned in his homework, sat at lunch alone, drew concerned glances, dumped an full tray of food, drew more concerned glances, cleaned the class, and Megaman and Roll talked. They were getting along great, unlike their operators, and started talking more freely to each other. They were still afraid of admitting their feelings, both hiding them. Ms. Mari had called Lan's parents a few days after the second detention. His mom and dad were planning on talking to him that night. However, something else was to happen that night. The eighth detention had just ended, and Lan walked walking a few feet behind Mayl, staring at the ground. He sighed, he doubted that he could keep this up any longer. Taking a deep breath, he walked up behind her and tapped her shoulder. 

She sighed, and turned around and crossed her arms. Lan gulped and looked down, trying to avoid her glare. And to try and ignore the obvious anger in her voice.

"What do you want?"

"Uh, Mayl...I...I'm sorry I got you dragged into detention with me. I really am."

Mayl just looked at him, and for a second eh thought she was going to forgive him. However, that soon changed when she started yelling.

"You're sorry? Sorry? You waited eight days to tell me you're just "sorry"? If you hadn't been late in the first place, none of this would even be happening! I wouldn't have to keep lying to my maid so she won't call my parents, I wouldn't have to stay up later to finish all of this extra homework. And all you can say is sorry? Hmphh. Forget it Lan Hikari, you're not getting off that easily."

With that she turned and stormed off, disappearing into her house that was right up the street. She was too angry to think about how harsh she had been on him when he was trying to apologize. To Lan, his hopes were shattered. It seemed positive that there was no way Mayl was going to like him back, not now, not ever.He sighed and dropped his head, walking into his house. His mom and dad weren't there, though he found a note saying they would be back later that night. He crumpled it up and threw it away, making his way up to his room. To save himself further hurt, he blackened his window right away, then jacked Megaman into his computer. The blue Navi had heard everything, and right away tried to help his brother.

"Lan, maybe--"

"Forget it Hub! I don't want to talk about Mayl."

"But Lan, if you let her calm down--"

"I said forget it! You don't think she made it clear a few minutes ago that there is no way she'll ever like me the way I like her? AT this rate, I'll be surprised if she even talks to me again..."

"Lan--"

"Just drop it Hub!"

Lan sat down on his bed, holding his head in his hands. Here he was, Lan, world famous NetBattler. He had saved the world several times, gone into positions where he could have been killed, and he barely flinched. But here he was, crying over the one girl he...loved. He loved her. That just made it all the more painful.

"I love her..."

"What was that Lan?"

"Oh, nothing. Uh, Megaman, I'm gonna take a walk. You know, to cool off. Start up the homework, okay?"

Megaman just nodded, surprised by Lan's sudden calmness after the outburst. But, what had he said? He loved Mayl? Megaman booted up the homework as Lan left the room, turning when he heard an alarm that someone was trying to break into the computer. His right arm changed into his MegaBuster, though eh was frozen with shock he saw who had broken in.

"Miss me? He-he-he-he!"

"No..."

* * *

Lan was in the park, sitting on a bench, staring at nothing. He briefly considered going into Higsby's and looking at the new chips, but decided against it. He didn't feel like talking to anyone. He sighed, this wasn't his day. How could he get Mayl to forgive him? Getting u, he skated towards the school, he could always try getting his friend out of the rest of the detentions. Nodding to Dex as he passed him, he rounded a corner. He never knew what hit him. The second he did someone grabbed him and pressed a cloth against his mouth and nose. In seconds he was unconscious, and the kidnapper carried him away as another person broke into Lan's house, stole Megaman's PET so the Navi couldn't escape his attacker, and left a note for Lan's parents. The man smirked as he climbed into a black mini-van. Pulling out a phone, he pressed speed-dial number one. 

"Boss? Phase One is complete. Start Phase Two."

"Hahahaha...good, good...Lan, it's about time we had revenge for everything you've done to us...HAHAHAHA!"

The mini-van drove off, no one knowing what had just happened.

* * *

Mayl walked into her house, still fuming at Lan. Slamming the door to her room, she jacked Roll into her computer, and started ranting. 

"How dare he Roll! You heard what he said, didn't you?"

"Mayl, I think you were too harsh on him. You know Lan, he doesn't get depressed like he's been lately unless something really hurt him. And he was trying to apologize, you just threw it back in his face. Most people wouldn't have said anything at all, yet he got up the courage to try and apologize."

"But Roll--"

She was cut off when she heard yelling from Lan's room. She couldn't help but be curious, and opened her window to listen to it better. She heard all of it, even Lan's confession of liking her. That dissipated any anger she had left, and she slumped back into a chair. She couldn't believe it. She was the reason of Lan's sudden change. Her thought were interrupted by a shriek from Roll. She dashed over to her computer, looking into the screen.

"Roll, what's wrong? Roll? Roll, answer me!"

Her shriek was caused by Megaman. He stumbled into Mayl's HP through the link, looking to be near deletion. The pink Navi rushed over to catch him before he fell, her mind racing. What had done this to him? Why wasn't Lan helping him? What was going on?

"Roll...destroy...the link...hurry..."

She hesitated, but did so. The link was deleted, though she wasn't sure why Megaman wanted it deleted. Viruses could use them, unless it wasn't a virus that did this. She pulled Megaman into Mayl's sight, channeling healing energy into him to keep him from dying.

"Mega, what happened? Who did this to you?"

"I...It's...Shademan...he...he's back..."

* * *

Okay, time for a bit of explaining. I did say this was AU, so the thing with Shademan is this. There is a secret scene in Megaman Battle Network 4 where you can team up with Django (?) the Solar Boy to delete Shademan once and for all. Django uses the Piledriver, and Shademan is supposed to be gone, well, he's back and stronger than ever. Any, you know the drill. Drop a review. Please. 


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I must thank the people who reviewed. Thank you. And one thing I forgot to mention, masteralchemist helped me with the second chapter. He's a friend of mine, so, thanks.

Anime Master ZERO: I knew that Shademan comes back in BN5 as a Darkloid, I have the game. The note was just for people who only played BN 4 and were wondering how Shademan was still alive. Though, I didn't know he appeared in Boktai 2, I'll have to get the game. Thanks for the info.

IndependentGirl: Well, i wouldn't say fiant, though she will take it hard. Anyway, what do you think they'll do to Lan? Heh heh.

Everyone Else: Thank you all for the reviews, here's Chapter 3.

Oh, and C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only , I could care less on what you think. You don't like it, don't read it. It's that simple.

Disclaimer: Now, let me see. If I owned Megaman Battle Network, would I really be writing this?

* * *

Chapter 3

Roll failed to suppress a shudder at the mention of Shademan's name. Ever since the vampire-Navi captured her she'd been scared to death of bats, taking comfort only in the fact that Megaman had deleted him. Twice. Megaman had told Roll about his adventure with Django, the Solar Boy, and how they deleted Shademan for good. Apparently it wasn't so. She tried to heal Megaman again, having a little more success. Her skills would keep him alive for now, but he needed to get back into his PET to be fully healed. So why wasn't Lan helping Megaman? Roll looked up at Mayl through the small screen in Cyberspace, worry written across her face. It was obvious from the look of worry on her Op's face that she had heard Megaman.

"Mayl..."

"I...Roll, we can't fend off Shademan if he comes after Megaman. You have to jack out."

"But...what about Megaman?"

"I--"

"I'll be taking him, he-he-he-he!"

Shademan stepped off of the the web-link. He had destroyed Mayl's pathetic excuse for a security cube. Like something as simple as that could stop the Dark Chips? He crossed his arms and floated forward, licking his fangs in anticipation. He had lost Roll to Megaman oh those so many months ago. Now she was defenseless.

"My, my, my...You look absolutely delicious tonight Roll...I bet your data will be delicious as your looks, he-he-he-he-he!"

Shademan started to float towards Roll, believing that Megaman was done for. When he was about to lunge for her several charged Buster shots knocked him back. Shademan landed on his back and slid, ending up back by the web-link. Megaman stepped in front of Roll, his left arm clutching his stomach, his MegaBuster smoking from the rapid charge attacks.

"You...stay away...from her..."

Shademan picked himself off of the ground, smirking as he floated back into the air. The attacks didn't hurt, but the power behind them from such a weakened Navi caught him off guard. Shademan just smiled to Megaman's comment and licked his fangs again. So he had to finish the job first, that would just make Roll that much more delicious.

"Aww, the blue boy is protecting his girlfriend. No matter, I'll finish you off then eat you friend."

Mayl watched the scene, feeling helpless. What could she do? Her Chip Folder didn't have strong enough to hurt Shademan, she wouldn't be able to help Roll at all. She had to log her Navi out, but she couldn't leave Megaman in there alone. If only she new Megaman's download code, then she could jack both of the Navis out. What was she to do?

* * *

Megaman jumped to the left, avoiding a cyber-bat shot by Shademan. Roll screamed as the bat flew past her, making Shademan smirk. But whatever he was going to say was cut off by several more charged shots hitting him. It was annoying, thanks to his dark power the shots were absorbed by a wall of darkness, though it stopped him from attacking the two Navis. No worries though, they would tire eventually. Warping all around the web-page, he dodged all of Megaman's attacks, warping somewhere else before the blue Navi could hit him. Then he saw it, Megaman slipped up. Shademan dashed forward, grabbing Megaman by the throat. Lifting the Navi into the air, he sent wave of dark electricity throughout the Navi's body. The screams of pain brought a smile to Shademan's face, making his hunger grow.

"Yes, scream. Scream! It only adds to my appetite."

He spun around a threw Megaman to the ground. The Navi bounced back into the air, and Shademan dashed forward and slashed Megaman's chest. He watched as his target fell to the ground and stopped moving. here was still live data in the body, though he wasn't going o be bothering them anymore. He turned to Roll, his fangs growing as he moved towards her.

"He-he-he-he...so much for your protector. Now...for my feast..."

Roll backed away, until she was at the edge of the cyber-platform. If she backed up any further she fall into nothingness, gone forever. Though it couldn't be worse than a world without Megaman.

"Nooo...Mega..."

"Yes, your "Mega" is gone. Now, feel free to scream all you want, this WILL hurt."

"No chance."

There was a whooshing sounds as two sword-wielding Navis appeared, a red one between Shademan and Roll and a military one behind Shademan. They both lunged forward, one slashing as he past, the other stabbing Shademan through the stomach. The vampire screeched and warped away from the new-comers, angry that his meal had been interrupted. But his mission was completed, Roll could wait for another day.

"Bah...Officials...Another time my sweet, he-he-he-he!"

He logged out, and the two Navis turned towards Roll. She recognized both of them, Protoman and Colonel. Those two Navis had formed a team and liberated the Net from Nebula's control, and with Megaman they rescued her, Gutsman, and Glide before Regal could have decided to do something to them like they did to Megaman. Mayl looked at her computer monitor, if Protoman was here, that meant...

"Chaud!"

His face appeared in a corner of her screen, along with another person, one she didn't recognize. Colonel's operator? It had to be. Protoman walked over to Roll, trying to get her to calm down while Colonel checked on Megaman. He was extremely wounded, he needed immediate assistance.

"Roll, calm down. tell me everything that happened."

"It..it...Megaman warped in here looking beat up...Then Shademan...Oh Mega..."

Colonel looked up, waving Protoman over.

"We have to get him to SciLab now."

"Chaud, permission to jack out?"

Chaud nodded and Protoman ran over to Megaman. Helping Colonel, the two Navis disappeared in a beam, heading for SciLab. Colonel's operator's box disappeared, he must already be in SciLab. Chaud looked at Mayl through his PET, time for him to get to work.

"Mayl, can you tell me what happened? I received reports of a rouge Navi in ACDC Area, I glad I got here in time."

"Y-yes..."

"So?"

"Oh. Uhh, well, I got home from school and jacked Roll in. I had an argument with Lan and was angry...Then Roll screamed and Megaman appeared. Shademan followed and they fought..."

"Why wasn't Lan helping Megaman?"

"I...I don't know. Will Megaman be okay?"

"We'll see. I'll stay in touch."

Chaud's face disappeared, and Mayl jacked Roll out. She sat down in a chair, confused with everything that had happened. Why was Megaman fighting alone? Why hadn't Lan called or show he even cared about the fight? Something wasn't right. She was snapped out of her thoughts by a scream, this one in the real world.

"Mayl, that came from Lan's house!"

Mayl nodded, Roll was right. She grabbed her PET and ran out of her house. She ran next door to Lan's house, and see the door wide open, she stopped running and peeked inside. The house was a mess, it looked like there was a fight. In truth the messenger just wrecked the place, making it look like a robbery-turned-fight. She saw Mrs. Hikari in the kitchen on her knees, crying. She walked up to Lan's mom, being careful where she stepped so she didn't break something.

"Mrs. Hikari, what's wrong? What happened in here?"

"I...It's Lan...he...he..."

Mayl started to get worried, but she had to know what happened.

"What happened to Lan?"

"They took him! WWW and Nebula took him!"

Mayl felt something in her snap and shatter, and she fond herself on her knees as well.

* * *

Baryl walked into Dr. Yuichiro Hikari's office. It was supposed to be his day off, but it seemed that SciLab's definition of a day off was really around a few hours. He was at work on his super-computer, what he was doing only the top levels of SciLab new. Naturally, Baryl knew what. He was working on a new Navi program, one that would allow Navis to take the next step, became humans almost, except for the fact that they were still data. Baryl cleared his throat, and Dr. Hikari turned to his boss.

"Yes?"

"We have a problem."

* * *

Yuichiro ran into his house, shocked by the mess it was in. Looking around, he saw his wife and Mayl on the couch, apparently Mayl was trying to comfort Haruka. Haruka looked up when she heard someone come in, and seeing her husband she got up and ran into his arms, crying into his shoulder. He just wrapped his arms around her, letting her get all of her crying out. He looked over at Mayl, and saw that her eyes were red too. He frowned, it had been obvious she liked Lan, but he heard that they had stopped talking to each other for some reason. It must hurt finding out that the person that you just yelled at was kidnapped. After several minutes, Haruka calmed down enough to talk, and she looked up at her husband.

"Well?"

"The Officials are putting all of their power into the investigation. Chaud is leading the investigation, he'll find Lan and whoever did this."

Haruka sniffled and nodded. Mayl wiped her eyes from her spot on the couch. If Chaud was on it Lan would surely be found. He wasn't the best Official for nothing. But Roll was still worried. She was worried about Lan, but she also was worried about Megaman. He had almost been deleted protecting her, she felt responsible. She couldn't help but speak up.

"What about Megaman?"

Dr. Hikari couldn't help but let out a small smile. The love between Navis, most would think that it was impossible. Data couldn't fall in love. Well, thanks to his advancements they could. He pulled out a PET, holding it out to Mayl for Roll.

"He'll been alright. Can I trust you to watch over him for us?"

Mayl looked up at Dr. Hikari, confused. Why was he trusting her with Megaman? Why not a professional NetBattler like Chaud, or whoever Colonel's operator was. Yuichiro saw this and continued.

"I think Lan would have wanted you to watch over Megaman."

"Th-thank you.'

Mayl took the PET and pulled a cord out of it. It was model for safe transport, so it didn't have all of the features a normal PET did. She linked the cord up with her PET and transfered Megaman into her PET. Roll watched as he appeared in the middle of the Cyberspace with different programs attached to him. She walked over to him and sat down by him, feeling guilty about his predicament. She should have tried harder to heal him, then maybe he wouldn't be off so bad. Mayl looked back up at Dr. Hikari and nodded, thanking him. But he went on still.

"I'll be over later to fix your computer too. I don't want another Navi to try and finish Shademan's job."

Mayl nodded again and left, leaving the Hikari's alone. They needed it. She walked back to her house and looked at Roll watching Megaman. It was obvious now that her Navi had strong feeling for Megaman. She just hoped that she would have a chance to tell him. Unlike her with Lan. She set her PET down by her bed and laid down, feeling extremely tired. In seconds she was asleep, her dreams filled with Lan being tortured at the hands of WWW.

* * *

Lan groaned as he started to wake up. He didn't feel good, the chemicals used to knock him out must of had an after effect. Looking around, he soon found he couldn't move at all. He struggled against the bonds, though his attempts were futile. There was no way he way going to break the metal bands. He started to panic, why was here here? He remembered going to school to talk to Ms. Mari, then nothing. He groaned and closed his eyes again, trying to ease his headache. After what seemed like hours, he heard a door open. He opened his eyes and saw a person, male or female he couldn't tell, wearing a black cloak. The person walked up to him and pulled out a small tool with prongs at the end. He pressed a button, and a clear volt of electricity shot between the prongs. Soon the person spoke, using a device to hide their voice.

"It's good that you are awake Lan. We're going to have some fun, hehehehe."

Lan started struggling as the person stepped closer, and soon screams rang throughout the underground base, only to be hard by the people that were waiting for them.

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Well, you guys know the drill. Read and Review! 


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